Glass condensers are used in virtually all chemical laboratories because of their excellent chemical resistance to most corrosives, and for their transparency, however glass is a highly brittle material subject to catastrophic failure by relatively low impacts, and thermal shock, particularly in thick sections. Glass is also very sensitive to scratches, nicks, and other defects which act as stress raisers resulting in failure at the slightest impact. A variety of plastic materials, particularly the fluoroplastics, are also highly resistant to most corrosives, even more so than borosilicate glass. Many are transparent or translucent, resistant to breakage, and are relatively economical to produce. However plastic materials have low thermal conductivity, about 1/4 to 1/6th that of glass and therefore poorly suited for making condensers. Some industrial type heat exchangers, of the shell and tube type, utilize a large number of small bore TFE fluoroplastic tubes having a large surface area for heat transfer. Such exchangers are generally not adaptable for laboratory use.
It is therefore apparent that there has existed for a long time a need for a laboratory condenser that has good impact resistance, excellent chemical resistance, transparency or translucency, one that can function as good or better than glass, and one that is much safer to use.